Breaking through the Surface

Wow. So Microsoft are now soft-promoting the new Surface computing platform, which sort of brings the iPhone, the Minority Report grab-screen, and some oPhoto-like snapshot galleries together in a Frankenstein coffee table. Ever since the iPhone announcement, people have been talking a lot this year about the “pinch” touch-screen technology that allows manipulation with your fingers. This guy Jeff Han at NYU has developed a pretty cool interface as well.

I appreciate the future-factor, but what’s even better is this faux-commercial for Surface now appearing on Flixxy. It playfully raises all the questions I continually ask myself: is this better than interacting with humans? Is this better than handling photos myself? Isn’t a real postcard more thoughtful? Isn’t painting more fun when you can smell the oils and get messy? What would happen if I diverted all the time that I spend messing with technology instead to my kids? And finally, which has more party appeal — the FrankenSurface or a vintage 1981 table-top Ms. Pacman machine?